Thursday, 30 April 2009

Quote of the Day

I can't define bipartisanship as simply being willing to accept certaintheories of theirs that we tried for 8 years and didn't work - and that theAmerican people voted to change. But there are a whole host of areas where wecan work together.

That seems exactly right - a sincere desire to work with your opponents doesn't mean that you surrender the things you believe in. It means that you listen hard to your opponents, you look for areas where you interests are aligned. You consider if there are things you can give up without harming your core objective, if they are willing to do the same.

Bipartisanship isn't a white flag of surrender - and it isn't a good in and of itself. There are plenty if ways to achieve mutual agreement but wind up with an outcome that achieves no-one's goals.